Cleaning apparatus

ABSTRACT

A cleaning apparatus comprises a reservoir for containing a body of foamable material in unfoamed state. Converting means is connected with the reservoir for receiving from the latter unfoamed material and for converting this into foamed state. Moving means mounts the reservoir and converting means for movement over a surface to which the material is to be applied in unfoamed state.

te ates ate 1 1 Leifheit et al.

1451 Mar. 12, 1974 CLEANING APPARATUS Inventors: Gunter Leifheit; Johannes Liebscher, both of Nassau/Lahn, Germany Assignee: Leitheit International Gunter Leifheit K.G., Nassau/Lahn, Germany Filed: July 10, 1972 Appl. No.: 270,569

Related [1.8. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 881,440, Dec. 2, 1969, Pat. No. 3,696,458.

Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 2,]968 Germany 1812081 1 us. c1. 15/50 c Int. CL. A47] 11/03 Field of Search... 15/50 R, 50 C, 98, 3 20 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,041,644 7/1962 Wallace 15/50 c 3,212,117 10/1965 Ernstberger et al. 15/50 R Primary Examiner-Edward L. Roberts Attorney, Agent, or FirmMichael S. Striker [5 7] ABSTRACT A cleaning apparatus comprises a reservoir for containing a body of foamable material in unfoamed state. Converting means is connected with the reservoir for receiving from the latter unfoamed material and for converting this into foamed state. Moving means mounts the reservoir and converting means for movement over a surface to which the material is to be applied in unfoamed state.

6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures CLEANING APPARATUS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This is a division of our copending allowed application, Ser. No. 881,440, filed on Dec. 2, 1969, and now US. Pat. No. 3,696,458.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to cleaning apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for producing and applying foamed cleansing materials.

It is already known to provide apparatus which moves over the surface of an article to 'be cleaned and applies to this articlea foam-type cleaner, that is a cleaning substance which is applied in foamed condition. The problem with these known devices is the fact that the conversion of cleaning-substance from unfoamed state into foamed condition provides significant difficulties. In orderto obtain maximum cleaning effect without undesired side effects-that is without excessive wetting of the article to be cleaned-it is necessary that the cleanser which of course is usually a liquid, be completely converted to foamed state so that the foam thus obtained is of almost dry consistency.

This, however, has heretofore been impossible to achieve with the apparatus known from the prior art and industry has therefore long sought for an improvement which until now has not been forthcoming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide improved cleaning apparatus of the type under discussion.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention to provide such a cleaning apparatus which is not possessed of the aforementioned disadvantages.

Still more specifically it is an object of the present invention to provide such a cleaning apparatus which makes it possible to convert a liquid cleanser completely to foamed state, with the foam thus obtained being of almost completely dry consistency.

An additional object of the invention is to provide such an apparatus which issimple and relatively inexpensive to construct, but which is very reliable in its operation.

In pursuance of the above objects, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides in a cleaning apparatus which comprises, briefly stated, reservoir means for a body of foamable material in unfoamed state. Converting means is connected with the reservoir means for receiving from the latter unfoamed material, and for converting such material to foamed state. Moving means mounts the reservoir and converting means for movement over a surface to which the material is to be applied in foamed state.

Thus, by alternately compressing and subsequently relaxing the foamproducing element of the converting means, namely an absorbent, resiliently compressible element, an intensive admixture of air with the liquid cleanser takes place, converting the same into a foam of neardry consistency.

It is emphasized that if desired or necessary, a separate supply conduit may be provided a portion of which is then arranged in the space between the absorbent element and the pressure roller, or one of them if there are several, and which is apertured so as to discharge onto the absorbent element to be foamed. Such a construction has the advantage that liquid entering from the reservoir can be evenly distributed over the entire width-or rather axial length-of the pressure roller.

The absorbent element may be constructed in the form of a plurality of sections having a certain diameter, with drive discs located between and in contact with successive ones of the sections and having a diameter larger than'the diameter of the sections. These discs may also serve for effecting the necessary compression of the sections of the absorbent element, in this case from opposite axial sides of the latter. For this purpose the discs may be axially inclined towards one another, for instance by mounting them and the sections of the absorbent element on a curved shaft.

Applicator rollers may be provided which are advantageously located immediately downstream of the areas where the absorbent element is subjected to compression, so that the applicator rollers carry away the foam produced in such areas for applying it to the article to be treated with the foam, before the foam can be reabsorbed in the areas where the absorbent element undergoes expansion. This has the additional advantage that in the areas which undergo expansion or relaxation, the pores of the absorbent element remain free to absorb air, rather than becoming clogged with the foam, so that this facilitates the production of better foam.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top view, partly broken away, showing one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section taken on line Il-II of FIG. I; and;

FIG. 3 is a top view of another embodiment of the invention turned through and partly sectioned but not broken away.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing in detail, and firstly the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the apparatus as a whole is identified with reference numeral 10. The apparatus 10 comprises a housing 11 which may consist of various different materials, for instance synthetic plastic or metal, and which is provided with a reservoir 12 containing a body 13 of cleaning liquid in unfoamed state, but which is convertible into foamed state. An opening 14 is provided through which the cleaning liquid 13 is introduced into the interior of the housing 11.

Located in the interior of housing 1 I is an absorbent element 18 of elastically compressible material. Cleaning'liquid 13 passing through the openings 14 into the interior of the housing II is absorbed by the material of the element 18. It will be appreciated that different materials are suitable for the element l8, but it is preferred that the material be a synthetic plastic opencelled foam material whose incremental portions may be subjected to compression and thereupon again allowed to relax. This alternate compression and relaxation of incremental portions of the element 18 causes excellent admixture of the air from the pores of the element 18 with the liquid 13 which has been absorbed into these pores, thus producing an intensive development of foam of nearly dry consistency.

Normally the apparatus will have a handle by which it may be gripped, for instance a handle analogous to a broom handle, but this has not been shown because it is not essential for purposes of the present invention.

The absorbent element 18 is constituted of a plurality of sections 72 axially spaced and mounted on a straight shaft 71. Alternating with the sections 72 are pairs of drive discs 73 which are inclined to the axis and arranged substantially V-shaped. The discs 73 roll on the surface of an article to be treated and cause rotation of the sections 72 whereby the same are subjected to axial compression in the region of the smallest axial distance between the pairs of drive discs 73, so that the liquid 13 is converted to foam in this manner, with the foam being removed by an applicator brush 74. In the illustrated embodiment the applicator brush 74 is so constructed that its tufts of bristles engage into the space between two associated drive discs 73 and withdraw the foam which accumulates therein to thereupon work the foam into the material to be treated. The drive discs are provided with cutouts for passage of the foam and are guided in circumferential recesses of the applicator brush 74.

The embodiment of an apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3 is analogous to that of FIG. 2 but differs from the same in that only a single pressure disc and drive disc is located between each two successive sections 76 which together constitute the absorbent element 18'. Some of the pressure discs 77 are configurated as drive discs which roll on the surface of the material to be treated and which have a significantly larger diameter than the sections 76. The actual compression of the sections 76 of the absorbent element 18' in this embodiment takes place by making the shafts 78 on which the sections 76 and the discs 77 are mounted in a housing 11' of curved configuration with the concave side facing an applicator brush 79 which removes the foam produced and works into the surface of the material to be treated.

While several embodiments have been illustrated herein, it is emphasized that other embodiments are readily possible and will offer themselves to those skilled in the art. For instance, the absorbent element may have different thicknesses, it may be provided with projections or recesses, or otherwise configurated. The number of absorbent sections as well as of the various pressure rollers, may be varied in dependence upon the requirements, and the manner in which liquid is supplied and the supply of liquid is controlled may also be varied. Of course, the arrangement of the reservoir, its configuration and the configuration of the housing may be changed at will in dependence upon various requiremerits.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a cleaning apparatus, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications withour omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended.

1. A cleaning apparatus, comprising reservoir means for a body of foamable material in unfoamed state; converting means connected with said reservoir means for receiving unfoamed material therefrom and converting the same to foamed state, said converting means comprising at least one absorbent element having a first diameter and including a plurality of axially spaced sections; compressing and moving means for engaging said absorbent element and subjecting incremental portions of said element to compression and for mounting said reservoir and converting means for movement over a surface to which said material is to be applied in foamed state, said compressing and moving means further including drive discs arranged intermediate and in motion-transmitting relationship with consecutive ones of said sections and having a second diameter larger than said first diameter.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1; and further comprising a shaft member mounting said sections and disc members for rotation.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1; and further comprising at least one rotary applicator brush for receiving the foamed material and transferring it to said surface.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3, said brush having a rotatable shaft provided with axially spaced circumferential grooves, and said disc members being mounted for rotation about an axis at least substantially parallel to said shaft and having peripheral marginal portions extending into said grooves with freedom of rotation.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, said absorbent element being of synthetic plastic foam material.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said sections are cylindrical, and said disc members are arranged alternately with said sections and inclined towards one another. 

1. A cleaning apparatus, comprising reservoir means for a body of foamable material in unfoamed state; converting means connected with said reservoir means for receiving unfoamed material therefrom and converting the same to foamed state, said converting means comprising at least one absorbent element having a first diameter and including a plurality of axially spaced sections; compressing and moving means for engaging said absorbent element and subjecting incremental portions of said element to compression and for mounting said reservoir and converting means for movement over a surface to which said material is to be applied in foamed state, said compressing and moving means further including drive discs arranged intermediate and in motion-transmitting relationship with consecutive ones of said sections and having a second diameter larger than said first diameter.
 2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1; and further comprising a shaft member mounting said sections and disc members for rotation.
 3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1; and further comprising at least one rotary applicator brush for receiving the foamed material and transferring it to said surface.
 4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3, said brush having a rotatable shaft provided with axially spaced circumferential grooves, and said disc members being mounted for rotation about an axis at least substantially parallel to said shaft and having peripheral marginal portions extending into said grooves with freedom of rotation.
 5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, said absorbent element being of synthetic plastic foam material.
 6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said sections are cylindrical, and said disc members are arranged alternately with said sections and inclined towards one another. 